Happy Families
by Javanyet
Summary: When the sister of Matt's American friend moves to London to work in her brother's web publishing business his murder changes hers and Matt's lives forever. Chapter 5: When Baxter claims self defense CPS claims the case is too weak to prosecute. Unfortunately the news comes to MIU too late to warn Annie, who is already on her way to meet with James Steel and Alesha Phillips.
1. Welcome to London

"Hey Matt, we found one of yours wandering about downstairs, some Yank says she's looking for 'officer Devlin'. Be nice to her, she's a bit knocked down." The PC stood aside and pointed in the direction of the detectives' desks. "Right there, Miss. Blue shirt, ugly tie."

A smallish bedraggled thirty-ish woman carrying a huge satchel trudged into the office, dark wavy hair escaping in all directions from an unraveling pony tail.

"Oi Mattie," she called out in failed attempt at local patois, then dropped her bag with a thump and whined, "Are we there yet?"

"_Annie_! You made it!" He sprang from his chair like a kid going for Christmas loot.

"No thanks to my rat of a brother." She was unable to continue, overwhelmed by Matt's wild hug of welcome, which was returned with all the energy that could be mustered after twenty-six hours of travel delays and killer jet lag.

Ronnie Brooks and some other random MIU office denizens watched in varied curiosity and amusement as their colleague and the stranger exchanged kisses on each cheek and then a full-frontal smooch punctuated by a loud "mmmuh!"

The greeting ritual concluded, Matt spun Annie around under his arm to face the office.

"This is me spare sister Annie, guys. She's here to help my mate Gil run his computer business."

"Web publishing," Annie corrected. "You always bollocks that up."

He rolled his eyes in embarrassment. "I keep telling you, stick to the _Yank_ slang, you make ours sound like... _bollocks__."_

By now Matt's partner was standing in gentlemanly fashion, hand extended. "Hello, Annie, Ron Brooks. I'm burdened with being young Matt's partner. And I'd like to observe that you don't seem to be going spare at all."

"Oh I think he means the Yank sort of 'spare', like extra." Angie volunteered. She'd brought in some reports in time to hear Matt's introduction.

"No he _doesn't,"_ Annie muttered as she shook Ronnie's hand. "Honest mistake though. Matt talks a lot about you, Mr. Brooks." She cut a look at Matt, who was still hanging onto her. "He _tries_ not to be a burden, I think."

"Then he's been lyin' to you," Ronnie told her. "And call me Ron."

"He made _me_ call him D.S. Brooks when I first met him!" Matt accused.

"Well she seems _sweeter_ than you, Sunshine. For godsake, Mattie, let her go and give her a chair."

"NO!" Annie pleaded. "Sorry, I mean thank you but no. One way or another I've been sitting for the past two days, train delayed to New York, _flight_ delayed out of JFK." She turned to Matt again, "When I called 'your mate' to tell him I'd be half a day late he sounded relieved, said it would give him a chance to meet with that new client of his, that job he's been rushing me into. Thank God he gave me directions to get here, I think I've been on the tube as long as I've been in the air. All these nice elderly gentlemen kept offering me their seats; turned 'em all down."

Matt smirked in his partner's direction. "You can add this one to your list."

She yawned and admitted, "Well I wouldn't say no to a dark corner and a blanket. Don't you copper types keep a room with a cot somewhere?"

One of the other detectives remarked, "Think she's a bit old for that, Matt."

"Argh." Annie rubbed a hand over her face. "Right, 'cot' means baby crib. Uh... roll-away? Sitting's not my thing right now, but if I could lie down somewhere..."

"Sorry, luv," Matt apologized. "Guv doesn't believe in sleep rooms. Encourages slacking."

"And in you boys that needs no encouragement." D.I. Chandler had emerged from her office to discover the source of the non-work activity. "Might I know what's going on?"

"You must be Captain, uh, detec..." Annie trailed off, completely at a loss.

Matt rescued her. "Detective Inspector Chandler," he told Annie. "Guv, this is Annie Roland, you've met her brother Gil once or twice."

"Oh yes, Gil the American Web Wizard. Very nice to meet you, Miss Roland."

"Likewise." Annie shook hands with the "guv" and commented to Matt under her breath, "_She _got it right, see?"

A phone rang, Ronnie picked it up and took a few notes before hanging up. "Right, back to work Mattie, that shop owner in Brixton is back from holiday and we need to follow up on his break-in. Sorry sweetheart," he apologized to Annie who had finally sunk into the chair beside Matt's desk. "You make yourself at home, anyone'll show you around if you like." He winked at Matt. "'Officer Devlin' and I will be back anon."

Annie brightened a little. "_'__Exeunt_, pursued by a bear'?"

"Hah!" Brooks exclaimed. "A fan of the bard. Nice to know at least some of the _grafts_ on Mattie's family tree have wider interests than beer and football."

"She does a bit of French too," Matt noted with little enthusiasm, "you should get on famously." He called to Angie as she was leaving. "Hey Ange, do me a favor and take Annie in hand... she's fluent in computer, just like you. She'll understand every word you say, unlike the rest of us Luddites. Angie here is our queen of computer forensics and research," he explained to Annie. "Together you might rule the world."

"I'll clear my calendar for _that_." Angie smiled warmly. "What a treat, nobody needing translation. C'mon, we'll get you some tea first."

Annie nodded but cast a nervous look at Matt. "I should try to call Gil again. His cell and his phone at the flat have been going straight to voicemail. I wish you two would tell me where his new place is, I could just get a cab there and crash."

"Sworn to secrecy," Matt declared. "He really wants it to be a surprise. Two bedroom flat, guest room, office, and lots of work space for Dreamboat Annie."

Suddenly all ears pricked up again. "Dreamboat Annie?" echoed Angie, and looked to both Annie and Matt for explanation.

"Stuck in the 70's," he explained, "mad bonkers for the Wilson sisters. Gil made the mistake of giving a greatest hits CD box to her for Christmas when we were still at uni..." He shuddered in mock horror. "The day we _arrived_ for a two week holiday. Took me years to get over the trauma."

"_Matteeeee_," Annie wailed, "you _promised_ you'd keep quiet about that Dreamboat Annie crap!"

He shrugged. "Never trust a copper. Thought by now you knew better." He grabbed Annie and gave her a rough hug then kissed her cheek. "Be a good girl and don't muck up any of Angie's stuff, and I'll take you out for curry tonight before we have a whack at Gil."

She blinked at him with bleary eyes. "You know I can cook better than you can buy."

As the two detectives left Ronnie called back over his shoulder, "It's clear you have not visited his pantry of late!"

* * *

><p>As they took the stairs to the car park D.S. Brooks chided his partner. "She seems a nice girl... and <em>you<em> were relentless. Judy would lay you out if you went on at her like that. And poor Annie jet lagged half to death."

Matt trotted ahead of him,laughing. "'Poor Annie' has had her shots at me, Ronnie. Ten years' worth." Suddenly he couldn't contain a genuine smile. "She's like family, Ron, and Gil's over the moon she finally agreed to come. They just sold the family house since their mum died last year, and she's been working with him from the States, but it'll be better for them to run things together. Anyway, years ago Gil and me swore we'd look after them, he'd look after Judy and I'd look after Annie, y'know, when we're all old and grey and one of us goes first."

"That sounds great, son. You can always use more family, especially when you can choose 'em. So she's like her brother then, programmer?"

"No, she does the other stuff. How to design 'em and put 'em together, the bits and pieces for websites, and how to find the right way to give the customers what they want, like that. Gil's the builder, and she's the presenter, I guess. Which reminds me..." He punched up his cellular as Ronnie waited by the car. He snapped the phone shut after a minute and got behind the wheel.

"Still no answer?" Ronnie asked.

"No. She didn't say so, but it's not like him. Oh his calendar goes off sometimes but he's been so keen on moving Annie into the new flat... gotta be some reason he's not answering."

Ronnie thought for a minute as they drove toward Brixton. "Well, maybe he's just off getting some last minute stuff... like curry spices." He nudged Matt, hoping to lighten his concern.

"Ha, ha, Bruce. But I'm telling you, if he hasn't called me or Annie by the time we're off shift, he's gonna have to answer to both of us."

"Funny, you don't seem so protective of Judy when someone pisses her off. Of course Judy's older, but Annie's about your age, right?"

"Yeah Ron, but she's, well Annie's kind of different, you could say. Not daft or challenged or anything," he hastened to add. "Just a bit more inside her head than some. Gil's like that too, a bit anyway, but he's more out in the world. Annie, she sticks to home and connects through her computer. You saw her, she's friendly and smart and all, but she'd be just as happy with her web design stuff and marketing strategy and all. Gil really had to work on her to get her to come."

"Some people are easier with their own thoughts, Mattie. Maybe the wide world outside scares her."

Matt shook his head as he pulled to the side of the road near the shop. "No, it's not that either. She's not afraid so much as she's happy where she is. She just doesn't think of 'out there' until she sees it. She'll do fine here, she's the curious sort and just needs to have the door flung open sometimes so she remembers there's something outside."

He glanced at his phone as they walked to the shop door.

Ronnie clapped his shoulder. "Relax, Matt. You just fling the door open tonight and I'm sure you'll find Gil waiting for Dreamboat Annie and Officer Devlin."

_I bloody hope so,_ Matt thought to himself.


	2. Not by blood alone

"I'll just be a sec, thanks for doing this, I know you want to get home to your microwave meal and your telly," cracked Matt. Unable to reach Gil, and becoming wilder with worry by the minute, he'd suggested (well, perhaps more strongly than suggested) that they stop by Gil's new flat in King's Cross before returning to Bow Street.

"You've got a key, then, in case he's not home?" Ronnie wanted to know.

"'course I do, how else could I have shifted all of his random Ikea junk up two flights with the lift broken while he was off flogging his business? You can see how near I could park the van." There was no space to be seen except the one marked with a yellow H, in front of the fire hydrant.

"No worries," Ronnie chirped, and wound down the window to slap the "Official Police Business" placard on the windscreen. "Have a look. Give a shout if you need anything." He'd added the last because he could see Matt was on edge. The something "not quite right" that had been hanging in a cloud around him all afternoon seemed to gel in the form of the windows of Gil Roland's flat. They were lit, but at an odd angle. Most people had some sort of light near the front window; the source for this one seemed to be askew.

"Right, back in a flash."

Matt let himself in the front door and took the stairs instead of the (presumably now repaired) lift. If anyone had asked he'd joke about "moving day nostalgia" but the fact was he wanted to have a look at every inch of the stairs, checking for anything amiss. When he reached Gil's door, he paused for a minute, then banged energetically.

"Oi, Gilbert, Annie's marking time at Bow Street, and you have a lot to answer for, mate!" Silence. He knew that his pounding could be heard from anywhere in the flat. "Right," he muttered, "probably having a kip thinking the world will wait for him." He opened the door with the other key. "Gil? C'mon, fun's over. Annie's at me office and totally knackered, give us a break, will ya?" He stopped in the foyer, and listened. Nothing, not even the hum of the fan Gil kept running night and day for "white noise" to shut out the street sounds while he worked. He took out his phone and called his partner. "Ronnie? Something's not right. Come on up, the door's open."

Though he moved fast, Ronnie was only up the first flight when heard Matt shout, "Shit! Ronnie dial 999!" His voice fell in volume but increased in anguish as he continued, "Oh, God, Gil, mate, can you hear me?"

Ronnie raced into the front room and found Matt on his knees next to a young man with dark hair and beard, both covered with blood. Blood spatters could be seen in random spots nearby. Matt hauled the upturned lamp closer as he felt for his friend's pulse. "Ronnie call 999!"

"I did, they're on their way." He knelt on the other side of the motionless stranger.

"He's still breathing..." Matt announced breathlessly, "bloody hell where's the ambulance!? Hold on Gillie, we'll get you sorted."

As if on cue the sound of sirens came screaming to a stop outside the front door. Ronnie jumped up and raced down the stairs.

"Up here, lads, careful, this is likely a crime scene."

He and Matt stood back as the emergency crew did some quick examination, put a cervical collar on Gil, and lifted him onto a gurney.

"Either of you know this bloke, can you come in with us and maybe give some med history on the way?" asked one of the ambulance techs.

"Yeah, I can do that," Matt told them and followed down the stairs. As the gurney was being loaded into the ambulance he turned to Ronnie. "Oh God... look, Ron, I have to go with Gil, I have his proxy, can sign for surgery and all that. Jesus... I need to get in touch with Annie..."

"I'll look after that, Mattie, you go to hospital and take care of things for her brother. Where you boys going?"

"University College A&E."

"Right, Matt you go on, I'll see to Annie."

As Matt climbed in the passenger door of the ambulance he called to Ronnie, "Don't tell her everything, okay? Just tell her..."

"No worries, son, I'll bring her to you and you can tell her what she needs to hear."

As he jumped in the car and headed back to Bow Street, Ronnie ran through the list of dodges he'd amassed over the years of talking to victims and family members. This would be a bigger challenge than most.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later Ronnie Brooks ran after Annie as she barreled into the A&amp;E, but she'd already had enough of his "I don't know, sweetheart, we think he may have been in a fight..." He caught up and tried to slow her down with a hand on her elbow, but even at thirty paces he could read the shattered look on Matt's face as he talked to an A&amp;E doc, both of them wearing fresh bloodstains, and it was a loss from the start.<p>

He made a last attempt with "Hold on, now..." but she shook him off and tore toward the far end of the corridor hollering, "What's happening?"

A frantic Matt tried to bar her way.

"Annie stop, Annie-_no_, Annie_WAIT!_"

But he'd forgotten she was quick, and strong for her size. She dodged past him, shoved the doctor aside and burst through the doors of the treatment room and almost immediately came backing out again, colliding with Matt as if he weren't there, moving like a sleepwalker.

"What's happening, something's happening, something bad is happening..."

She was muttering under her breath, staring at a fixed spot in space as if something was hovering a foot in front of her. She bounced off Matt and continued backward, still muttering, until the opposite corridor wall stopped her. By now Ronnie had reached them, and he and the doctor and several A&E staff were approaching cautiously.

"NO!" Matt barked and thrust a hand out in a "stop" gesture. "_Leave_ it." With his other hand he reached for Annie, now plastered against the wall.

"What's happening?" she whispered. "What's wrong with Gil?" Her eyes grew wide as she seized Matt by his (bloody) sleeve. "What's happened to _GILLIE_?"

Matt gripped her wrists, then her shoulders, then held her face in trembling hands. "Gil's gone, Annie. His head... skull fracture..." He said the words as if reciting an accident report that he couldn't quite believe.

She leaned closer then, correcting him, keeping the secret from the others.

"He can't be _gone,_ Mattie, I'm finally here, I'm moving in. We're The Web Wizards, aren't we? We have so much to get done, I made him wait so long and now there's so much to _do_." _  
><em>

Matt didn't say any more, just clamped Annie in his arms and slid to the floor with her. Finally she clung on as if she were drowning.

"I don't _understand_," she sobbed into his neck, "The pieces _don't fit..._"

Still holding onto Annie, Matt spared a glance up at Ronnie, who was waiting for a cue. Matt jerked his head in a quick nod toward the medical staff, and Ronnie drew them with him up the corridor.

"I'm Detective Sergeant Brooks," he told the A&E doctor in charge. "I'll be needing to get some information. A crime may have been committed." He pointed behind him. "That young man is D.S. Matt Devlin. He's my partner, but personally connected to the victim and that young lady."

"Family?" the doctor asked, more out of curiosity than professional need.

"You could say that. Now let's go somewhere we can talk. They'll look after one another for now."

* * *

><p>"Are you daft, Guv?" Matt exploded. "I can't just leave her on her own in some hotel. She's family, for God's sake!"<p>

"Ron, why don't you check up on Miss Roland, see where we are at assigning a Family Liaison officer. Close the door, thanks."

D.I. Natalie Chandler was no stranger to the conflict between personal interest and police protocol. She'd seen her share of trauma affecting her people, and it never got easier when it came time to ask them to choose between doing their job when it affected someone close to them, or stepping away when it was _too_ close.

"Matt, sit down. I'm so sorry about your friend, and I can't imagine how it must be affecting you, and his sister. But the fact is, the law defines family in a different way. You know that. And the proper thing to do is what we always do, assign an FLO to Miss Roland and help her with a place to stay while we conduct the investigation."

"This is so wrong," Matt argued. "She came here to move in with her brother Gil, my mate, and now it's a crime scene. She hasn't any money, guv, her house sale is still tied up in final stages. She sent all her stuff on ahead, but she can't touch it because CSI has to go over everything first. Her mum and dad are both gone, and now her brother." He shut his eyes tight for a few seconds. "I still can't get my head around it." Opening his eyes again, he went on, "Annie's different, guv, she sees the world in a certain way and deals with things different than some. People misunderstand, sometimes they just think she's mental. But when things go off, or there's something to figure out like in the work she does, she just talks them out to herself, yeah? Not talking to imaginary friends or babbling nonsense, just like some people take notes, she works things out like a puzzle, it's easier when she can hear them out loud. Right now she's all wrapped up in her own head, trying to fix this puzzle that can't be fixed. She can't help it, it's just the way she's learnt works best for her. I have an extra room at my gaff, if she can just stay with me until we get some more on what happened, just until she finds her feet, yeah?"

Natalie listened patiently, and with no small empathy. She hated to see him suffering like this, and imagined he needed comfort from his friend Annie at least as much as he needed to take care of her. Matt Devlin was known to keep his emotions on his sleeve, but his tears stowed safely inside. She hadn't seen him so undone since he'd lost his _other _best mate to suicide the year before.

"You know we can't allow that. If you're going to investigate this, and believe me it won't be me who tries to hold you back, you have to step back from Annie Roland. We can't have even a whiff of conflict of interest that could affect the case down the line. I'm sorry, Matt. I know you understand why, and I know it doesn't make it any easier. You can check in with her by phone, and see her routinely, but she's going to have to stay where FLO finds her a place. You know they won't put her in some seedy flop."

She waited, watching to see if any of this was getting through. Finally Matt heaved a great sigh, and nodded.

"I know, and the last thing I want is to mess this up. It's just..." Not finishing the thought, he got up to leave the office and his boss followed to put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know, Mattie. And _you_ know I'd have it different if I could."

"Yeah. Thanks, guv."

* * *

><p>When they got to the outer office the female FLO was there with Annie and Ronnie, who was hovering nearby like a mother hen and holding Annie's satchel as if protecting it from pirates.<p>

"Allison here is going to look after things," Ronnie informed Matt and the D.I.

"They won't let me stay with you," Annie said, her voice raw from crying. She looked dazed, which was to be expected after what had happened, on top of jet lag and two sleepless days of travel. "Allison and Ronnie explained why. I don't want to screw up anything."

Matt went to her and hugged an arm around her shoulders. "You're not going to screw up anything. You have my cellular number, yeah, you call me. Every five minutes if you want."

"If you don't he'll be calling you, I wager," Ronnie added.

"We'll put her up at the Cheshire." FLO Allison Bradshaw was close to Annie's age, soft spoken and highly regarded, and well known to the department. Ronnie had put a word in with the MIU admin clerk to ask for her by name.

"Can I at least drop her," Matt pleaded. "See she's settled in okay, pick something up if she needs it. I promised some curry take-way, right?" He directed the last bit to Annie, who smiled wanly and nodded.

"Good lord, she must be starving by now," Ronnie told the boss as he handed Annie's satchel to his partner. "Look, let him get her settled, I promise I'll ring his place later to make sure he's where he should be by curfew." He was only half-kidding. He was an old hand at knowing the difference between what's wanted and what's needed, and stood firmly on the side of protocol in cases like this. He also knew when a bit of bending was called for.

"All right," Natalie agreed, albeit a tad reluctantly. "Allison, you can handle all the arrangements from here, and check in with Miss Roland tomorrow after she's had a rest. D.S. Devlin will see her to the hotel." She gave him a meaningful look and added, "I trust him to do this by the book."

As she trailed Matt toward the door, Annie stopped and turned back. "Thank you... I'm sorry, I forgot to say that. You're all very kind."

"No thanks necessary, Miss Roland. I'm very sorry for yours and Matt's loss. We intend to do everything we can to find out what happened and who is responsible."

"Please, Inspector, call me Annie. And Ronnie..." She stepped closer to him and gave him a hug. "I'm so glad Matt has someone like you as a partner."

When they'd gone, Natalie turned to D.S. Brooks and urged, not for the first time, "Look after him, Ronnie."

"Every minute of every day, guv."

* * *

><p>At the hotel, Matt waited while Annie got ready for bed. They'd left the curry take-away with the hotel kitchen staff, mostly untouched.<p>

"You go on and get sorted, I'll wait and get you tucked up nice before I go." When she nodded vaguely he added, "Guv's right y'know. The exalted Crown recognizes relations by blood alone. And of course what girl could keep her hands off of me, right?" He nattered on just to fill the silence, and turned down the bed as he waited for Annie to return from the bathroom. "Not too flash, but it's nice enough," he observed, taking in the neat, simply furnished room. A few more minutes went by.

"Annie? You all right in there?" He knocked lightly on the bathroom door. "Annie, luv, now is _not_ the time to worry me more." No answer, but he could hear her crying. "Right. Decent or not, I'm coming in."

When he opened the bathroom door Matt nearly stumbled over Annie, who was crouched on the floor next to her open satchel. She was dressed in the ratty old t-shirt and sweat pants he'd taken from his locker before leaving Bow Street. She'd only packed a change of jeans and sweater, and some underthings. Everything else she owned was locked up in the King's Cross flat, as much hostage to the unthinkable as she was. She was clutching something he couldn't quite see, rocking it like a baby.

"Do you remember him?" she asked suddenly, looking up at Matt and holding out the goofy-looking stuffed bear that he and Gil had found in a jumble shop eight months ago. At the moment it was a little battered and squashed from its long trip stuffed inside the satchel.

His voice seized up for a second before he could answer. "Yeah. Gil and me figured we could push you over the edge with it."

"Him and that stupid Valentine card, 'we can't bear to go on without you'..." She looked sadly at the bear, stroking its plush pear-shaped body over and over. "I never gave him a name."

"We called him Bruce."

When she looked up again her weak smile broke his heart. "You guys call everybody Bruce."

She paused for a minute, looking as if she might correct herself, then shook her head and muttered "No, not yet, not yet." Matt didn't question it, he was used to this side of her. But she explained anyway. "I'm just not ready for past tense, not yet. Is that okay?"

Then and there, Matt Devlin made up his mind. "'course it is." He reached down and helped Annie up, leading her to the bedroom.

"There, you and Bruce get snug."

He waited until she was in bed, but instead of leaving he took his badge, wallet, and wristwatch and laid them on the bureau. Then he took off his jacket and laid it on the chair, and slid off his tie and the clean shirt he'd changed into at headquarters. These he hung neatly in the closet as Annie watched, quietly confused.

When he sat on the bed and dropped his shoes she said, "You're supposed to go now. You're not allowed, remember? The Crown, and family, blood alone."

"Bugger the Crown." He'd taken the spare blanket from the closet and lay down on the bed next to Annie. "There. Nice and proper, on top of the covers." He pulled the blanket over himself and flung the rest over where Annie lay bundled under sheets and blanket and comforter. "You warm enough? You're always so cold."

"Yeah."

"Nighty-night then." He reached out to turn off the bedside lamp and settled on his side facing her. "What the Crown doesn't know won't hurt 'em."

"I don't understand," Annie whispered in the dark. "How could they all be gone, everyone I loved, dad, then mom, and Gil... how could everyone I love most be _gone_ just like that, in just a few years?"

"Well I'm still here. You love me, don't you?"

"Yeah... you're all I got left now, Mattie, how did that happen?"

She started crying again and reached for him but was pinned back by his weight on the covers. He shifted closer and wrapped an arm around her as best he could, holding her cheek against his.

"Don't you worry Dreamboat Annie, I'm not goin' anywhere."

* * *

><p>The chambermaid came in early in the morning when her knock went unanswered. When she saw what looked like a couple sharing the bed, she almost roused them to warn that the room was paid for one, not two. Then she remembered that this room was an FLO booking, and this lady was an American who'd lost her brother the day before. Must be her boyfriend is a local, she figured. She didn't think the London FLO department catered to this sort of thing, but it wasn't her business, was it? She left quietly as she'd come.<p> 


	3. Either Or

FLO Allison Bradshaw was scheduled to bring a hopefully more rested Annie Roland to MIU Bow Street the following afternoon. While Annie had never been to her brother's flat it was hoped she might be able to help identify someone seen on CCTV leaving the building at 3:15 pm. Neighbors apparently had not been home at the presumed time of the murder, and those who had been brought in to view the videotape did not recognize the man.

Forensics had found a surprisingly few number of clear prints. Most were from Gil Roland, Matt, and the movers who had brought in the larger pieces of furniture. One set of prints couldn't be matched. Autopsy results were still pending, but the rough determination was that Gil had been killed by several blows to the head. His blood and hair were found on the corner of his desk, corresponding with one of his head wounds, but that alone was unlikely to have killed him. The brass lamp found on the floor also had a good deal of blood and hair on it, and had probably been used to finish the job. As always the final report would offer more detail.

Back in the office, Ron went over the sets of notes. "Good thing he kept a neat place, some scenes are covered with hundreds of prints."

"Well he'd only moved in a fortnight ago, not a lot of time for visitors," Matt had explained. "Didn't like to do business in his gaff with customers anyway, he saved his 'personal space' for his hands-on computer work. Maybe Annie has seen this bloke before, they were always sending pictures back and forth."

Ronnie took off his glasses and set them on the desk. "Yeah, well Mattie... about Annie." He looked around to see who was nearby, then lowered his voice. "I rang you last night, about ten. When you didn't answer I figured, well, he's gone to bed early after settling her at the hotel, who wouldn't after a day like that?" He looked steadily at Matt, who shifted uneasily in his chair. "Not like you not to return a message, even crack of dawn. I might almost think you hadn't been home all night." He waited. "See you're wearing the same shirt and tie you picked up last night." He stood for a moment and looked Devlin up and down where he sat. "Trousers a little rumpled. Anything you want to tell me?"

"Yeah, when did you start writing for the fashion press?" But then Matt leaned in, his voice even quieter than his partner's. "I couldn't leave her there, Ron. She was in pieces. I'd planned to leave, and she told me to, but I couldn't do it." He ran a hand over his eyes. "She had that bloody cuddly bear that Gil and I sent her, for Valentine's day. She'd brought it with her, like for luck, yeah? Housewarming, and all that. She was on the floor sobbing over that bear, asking me if I remembered the card we'd sent her." Finally he looked Ronnie in the eye. "I couldn't leave her there like that, on her own."

"But FLO..." Ronnie began, only to be cut off.

"You know that FLO wouldn't spend the night unless her life was in some kind of danger." His voice was rising in spite of the need for caution. "I couldn't leave her on her own, not like that."

Ronnie laid a hand on his arm. "All right son, you don't have to convince me. But you know how it works... if you don't keep watch on yourself you could really mess things up, without wanting to. I'm just saying be careful. What helps you and Annie now could hurt you down the road."

"I didn't do it for myself," Matt shot back.

Ronnie knew better; he knew that Matt wouldn't have wanted to be alone with his thoughts last night, and probably the best thing was for him to be able to look after his mate's sister. But he also knew Matt well enough not to push.

"I know. Now let's go get the inventory list from CSI so we can have it together with the video for Annie to go over."

This didn't make sense to Matt. "She's never been to King's Cross. I could probably do a better job, I moved half the stuff in."

"Maybe so, but a home is not just about stuff, it's about habits, like where stuff's kept, and why. You know where you dropped it, but he might have shifted things since you were there last. We know there was a struggle, but the place didn't look very knocked about. We'll just see if she notices anything. Besides," he added, "it couldn't hurt to help her feel she's doing something."

When they got back with the CSI reports and inventory a couple of hours later, they'd barely sat down before D.I. Chandler leaned out of her office door.

"D.S. Devlin, in here please." The invitation was definitely an order.

"If you got the sack, I'll take your chair, it's more comfy than mine," Ronnie cracked. But he wasn't smiling, and neither was Matt as he went to Chandler's office.

* * *

><p>When he shut the door behind him Matt sat down, though his boss hadn't offered a seat as she usually did for a personal chat. In fact her demeanor was chilly, to say the least.<p>

"I got a call a short while ago from Allison Bradshaw. It seems that a housekeeper at the Cheshire told her manager that Miss Roland had a male companion spend the night. She heard a phone alarm going off and checked the room. When she saw two people in bed, she wisely retreated. But she wasn't sure if someone in an FLO booking should be entertaining guests, so she asked. Naturally the question was passed on to Allison. Not knowing Miss Roland or her personal habits..."

Matt stiffened and was about to object, but Chandler didn't take notice.

"I said I would look into it. Imagine my surprise when the hotel's security camera showed Detective Sergeant Matt Devlin exiting the hotel's elevator at half-six, still hastily doing up his necktie."

The implication sickened Matt, and it showed. "It's not what you think."

"Good God I hope not, not after all of that 'spare sister' talk."

Matt told Chandler what he'd told Ron, except this time his voice caught when he offered the details.

"I was ready to leave, I swear, but when she went into the bathroom to change she didn't come out. I waited, and knocked, and finally went in, because she wasn't half scaring me to death." He shut his eyes for second, then opened them again. "Guv, she was lying in a heap there on the floor, just crying, clutching this cuddly bear..." He didn't bother to explain where it came from or why. "I couldn't do anything else but stay there with her. I couldn't stop thinking, if I'd just dropped her there and left she'd be spending the whole night on the tile floor with nothing but a jumble shop bear and pictures in her head of her brother dead in the A&E."

For just a moment Natalie thought he was going to break down, but he swallowed hard and looked her in the eye.

"I'm sorry for the mess with FLO. But I swear, I stayed with her, on top of the blankets, and her underneath." He fought a wave of nausea. "I can't believe I have to say that. I'd no more touch her that way... _she_ wouldn't..."

"I believe you Matt, but this could turn into a real cock-up. You know if we get a suspect, if it gets as far as CPS, you'll have to come clean about it." She sighed. "Unless and until, we'll keep it here. I assured Allison it would not happen again. She doesn't need to know who was in the room with Miss Roland, and doesn't want to."

Matt was about to thank her and go when the Iron Lady Face returned.

"Don't you dare leave yet, D.S. Devlin. I said I believe you and I understand your reasons for staying. But I can't afford to have my detectives being told one thing, and doing another, no matter the reason. So here and now you have a choice. You can work the case with Ronnie or you can take a leave and look after his sister. Not both." When he seemed about to answer she cut him off. "One or the other, Matt, no debate. And you had better not try to play it both ways again or you'll end up suspended and the case will be ruined."

He was quiet for a minute, taking it in. "All right Guv. I'll stick with the investigation. No more happy families behind your back, I mean it."

"Good. Now go help Ronnie get the CCTV footage ready."


	4. Rat Bastard

Allison dropped off Annie at Bow Street a little later than planned. As expected, Annie was more rested and less nerve-frayed than she'd been the day before. After "having a think", which is what Gil had always called her self-contained out loud discussions, by the time Allison picked her up she had decided not to repeat the previous night's meltdown no matter what. There was too much to do. In fact she was muttering "Too much to do, gotta think what comes next," as she took the stairs to the MIU office. She didn't notice the odd looks from various police and administrative staff who passed her, but then she never did.

"Ron, Allison said you need me to look at some things. Where's Matt?" Annie tended to run one thought into the next, as if everyone could follow her thoughts by osmosis.

She'd approached so quietly (having finished her "think") Ron Brooks was startled from his review of the Roland apartment inventory. CSI had also provided a map of the premises, room by room, with objects noted in the locations in which they were found.

"Annie! You should be more careful with an old man's heart," he faux-scolded and pointed to the chair beside his desk. "Have a seat and I'll tell you where you might be helpful. Matt's gone to talk to the, ah, doctors."

"You mean the coroner." The discomfort Annie saw on Brooks' face came more than just discomfort with police terminology. "Oh God, she knows doesn't she, about last night? I told him to go, but I was such a mess, I wasn't thinking clearly..."

Ronnie stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Don't blame yourself sweetheart, there isn't much that the Guv doesn't find out. Mattie's still got his job, don't you worry."

"He had to choose. Between me and the case, right?"

"Now I wouldn't put it that way," Ronnie told her.

"No, no, it's good. It's the right thing. You have to put this together, to find out what happened and who killed Gil. I can't be distracting things, and I'm better today anyway." She reached for the folder Ronnie held. "What are those?"

The sudden change of mood worried him. "Slow down, slow down. I'm glad you're feeling better but there's no need to rush on."

She locked serious eyes on his.

"I'm not 'rushing'. I have my whole life to adjust around my brother being gone. But this thing," she pointed to Ronnie's desk, "this thing can't wait. If you wait too long the pieces change shape and you can't fit them anymore." She said the last sentence almost under her breath.

"Sorry?"

"I said, if you wait too long the pieces won't fit anymore. So tell me what you need me to look at."

_Matt's right,_ Ron thought, _she does have a particular way of looking at things._ "All right then. The CSI crew took an inventory, and a layout of your brother's flat. You tell me if you see anything odd, anything that you don't think fits with how your brother would have had things. Don't worry you've never been there, there's more to it than that."

"I know. The picture of who we are, how we live. It's something I'd know." She took the folder from his hand, then hesitated, and blanched.

"Sure you're all right?" he asked.

Annie gulped. "These aren't, well, they aren't _photographs_ are they? You know, of... I don't really think I can..." She didn't finish the sentence, but Ronnie could see her practical demeanor slip.

"No, no photographs. Just a list of things, and maps of the rooms showing where they were found. Take your time, start anywhere you like." She still looked shaken so he added, "No photographs, I promise."

"Okay."

She looked at the inventory list first, seeming to concentrate on the main room where the body had been found. When she switched to the map of the same room, staring until her eyes almost seemed to lose focus, Brooks became a bit worried. Matt had told him all about that 'inside-her-head' stuff as if it were as natural as breathing, but then he'd known her for years.

"Annie?" Ronnie prompted. "You see something off?" He just wanted to get her attention, thinking she was picturing her brother's body on the floor, so her quick snap-to and reply surprised him.

"Where's the parallel drive? Gil kept everything except the most run of the mill pre-loaded apps on his parallel. It's not here." She tapped her finger on the map of the front room, more specifically on the rectangle representing the desk. On the blank part next to the black square that represented his high-end self-built desktop computer.

"Sorry dear, I'm a bit tech-challenged," Ronnie apologized sheepishly. "What's missing?"

She checked the inventory list again. "Tower, monitor, mouse, printer... no parallel drive." She looked at the still-puzzled detective. "Was the computer damaged? Did it look like someone had been messing around in the files?"

"No, Ange and the tech people couldn't find anything much at all on the main computer. Like you said, a few small things... 'apps'. Everything was still plugged in when we found it."

"Right because he kept all of his work and special programs on the parallel. See, digital commodities are stolen digitally. Gil had enough real-time scanners to scream bloody murder if anyone tried to hack in or load a virus while he was working, but even when it's shut down they can still get in. So he backed up everything, every time, on a five terabyte parallel drive, and popped the cable. Did you find a loose cable anywhere? Like this one." She indicated the yellow ethernet cable attached to the computer on a nearby desk. "Like that. Could have been blue, or yellow, the connector is like a phone plug but wider."

"Yeah, we found one of those, it was just laying on the floor next to the bod- next to the desk."

"Why isn't it on the _list_?" Annie demanded. "How can you figure things out if you leave out _pieces?"_

"Well it's right there, see?" He pointed to the words "miscellaneous computer cables". Annie shut her eyes tightly, in the throes of some kind of frustration only techies seemed to share, or so Ronnie was thinking. "So you think that thing, that parallel drive might be missing? Couldn't he have put it somewhere else, locked it up somewhere?"

"Like I said, digital commodities are stolen _digitally_. He didn't need to lock it up. He just disconnected the cable from the tower and left it right there on the desk. Always, no matter where he lived, his tech is always arranged the same way."

Ronnie knew just enough about his girls' computers to guess this parallel drive thing didn't have to be very big. "So why would somebody steal it then?"

"They're not worth that much, really. The only thing valuable would be what's on it, and it's not worth the trouble to just take a random one and root around through the files hoping to find something useful. Most thieves would take the tower, and monitor, that hardware of Gil's is worth a fortune even three quarters empty."

"Then what if somebody already knew what was on it, and didn't have time to root around?"

Annie mumbled as she stared at the map and inventory list. "What was on it, new projects, new clients, newest job..." She looked up, eyes wide. "The only thing that wasn't ages old and already closed business was that new job he kept at me about. It was for a new client, runs a non-profit, 'Homecoming', helps returning Gulf War vets find housing and jobs."

"Housing?" echoed Ronnie. "They're qualified for that already."

Annie offered a cold stare. "Not everyone wants council flats, Ronnie." Her brow furrowed. "I remember now, he wanted me to do a hack-test on something weird. Not the file access, or passwords or firewall, none of the usual stuff. He wanted to make his accounting app bulletproof, the app _itself_. Not like locking up your accounts, but hiding how they're _done_. I told him I could do it but kept asking Gil why a nonprofit was so afraid of anyone knowing how they did their accounting."

Ronnie was taking notes at top speed. "Did your brother write the accounting program for him?"

"No. Third-party stuff, and when I wanted to know who wrote it the client wouldn't tell Gil. He said it would be better if I tested it cold, in case I was familiar with the code writer. Like that would give me special insight? I told Gil that was bullshit." She paused then, a little embarrassed. "Sorry."

"That's all right, dear, I've heard worse." He only just managed not to laugh. "And?"

"And I reminded him I can't write code to save my life, how would I know one code cruncher from another? I asked him to find out a little more about this guy, but he was showering Gil with money to get the project started. In fact he used a lot of it to buy the new place."

"Your 'pieces' are becoming clearer, I have to say. Let's have a look at that CCTV footage, on the off chance you might recognize him."

Annie almost smiled at that. "He sent me images of every client and potential client, it was kind of a joke he had. Said he was going to match me up, but only a fellow geek would put up with me."

* * *

><p>Five minutes later in a dimmed room Annie blurted out "rat bastard."<p>

"So you think that might be him?" Ronnie asked. It was getting hard to keep up with her.

A brief knock interrupted Ronnie's struggle for clarity, and Matt Devlin entered carrying the coroner's report.

"Annie," he greeted and dropped a quick kiss on her head before asking, "You feeling a bit better today?"

"Yeah. Sorry you got heat for it."

"Barely singed." He sat down and asked, "What have I missed?"

"Well Annie here seems to have recognized the mystery man on the tape, called him 'rat bastard', fitting to be sure considering what he probably did."

Matt's eyebrows rose and he leaned across Ron to say to Annie, "You serious? That's Rat Bastard?" He sat back again and explained to Ronnie, "Gil's latest client. Annie nicknamed him that to help her remember his real name. What is it again, Dreamboat?" In spite of everything, she glared at him. "Sorry. But can you remember his name?"

Her muttering began again. "Ralph... Ralph... Bak, bak, Bakshi? No, that's the animator... h, i, j, k..."

Ronnie looked to his partner in desperation. _What?_ he mouthed silently.

"Relax, Ron, she's just runnin' the alphabet, like that antique Rolodex of yours. Brings it back to her."

"BAXTER!" she nearly shouted. "Ralph Baxter, starting up Homecoming Foundation."

"Great, that's great," Ronnie said with a smile. "Now I don't suppose you have a set of fingerprints to match that photo your brother sent?" He wasn't even close to being serious.

She answered with a smug smile of her own. "As a matter of fact, he also sent fingerprints. Mostly to test out this new transmission software we were playing with, plate-to-digital stuff like you use in bookings. Used to only be available to law enforcement, but there's some beta versions being used for other security stuff so we were trying it out."

Brooks rose and switched on the lights. "We'll get it from your own computer stuff in the property room, then? It'll only take the rest of the day to sign the forms," he finished with a groan.

"Don't have to," Annie told him. "It's in my bag back at the hotel. I keep all my flash drives in an x-ray proof case and keep it in my carry on when I travel."

As they went to the garage Matt caught Annie round the waist in a hug. "It's nice to see you smile a bit."

"It's nice to have a reason," she told him and stretched up to kiss his cheek. "I don't know what I'd have done without you last night, Mattie. But I'll be okay now, and you can concentrate on the case and not me, okay?"

"No promises," he warned as he held the car door for her. "But Guv'll keep me on the straight and narrow."

* * *

><p>By the end of the day when Allison returned to MIU to collect Annie and take her for dinner and back to the hotel (Matt Devlin being forgiven, but no longer fully trusted with the task) three things had been achieved: A video i.d., a fingerprint match between the brass lamp used to murder Gil Roland and the ones on Annie's flash drive, and a warrant to search Ralph Baxter's Knightsbridge flat, where Roland's parallel drive was found in the back of a cupboard full of random tech gear.<p>

"What happens next?" Annie asked Matt during the few minutes of privacy they were granted to check up on each other and say goodnight.

"We arrest Rat Bastard and we take everything to CPS. You'll like Alesha Phillips, she's as good at the law as you are at... whatever it is you do that I can't make head or tail of. And James Steel, you'll find him interesting. He's one for puzzles, always messing with a Rubik's cube."

"But are they good_ enough_?" That was all that mattered now.

"They're the best."

"Good." She hugged tight to Matt, pulling his head down to her shoulder so she could ask quietly, "And how are you? Everything you're doing is looking out for me, but I can't do that for you."

He pulled his head up and looked down at her. He was no giant at five-nine, but Annie barely reached his chin. "I'm fine. Anyway, I'm the one that made that promise to Gil."

She frowned. "Looks like you got the short end of it."

"Nah. Just the short _sister_." He winked and gave her a shove toward the corridor. "Now off with you before somebody thinks I'm compromising something. FLO will take you to the CPS office tomorrow. They'll have everything they need to send down Baxter, no worries."

Or so they thought.


	5. Forward and back

Early the next morning Ralph Baxter was brought in and interviewed, at which time he offered the age-old story... self defense. He claimed he and Gil argued about the job that Baxter had contracted. Gil had attacked him with the lamp, and he managed to wrestle it away from him, and swung back to save his own life.

"So what about this 'job' got you so wound up you came to blows?" Ron wanted to know.

"It had been taking so long, I wanted to meet with him to find out what could be done to speed things up."

"According to his sister, he didn't like to do business in his flat," Matt said. He knew it himself because Gil had told him often, but he'd been gently reminded by the Guv that it was better to keep his personal connection to Roland out of the interview process. It wasn't any secret they'd been mates, but inserting it openly into the investigation wasn't a good idea for the same reason that spending time with Annie wasn't. It could muddy things down the road.

Now Baxter gestured in apparent frustration. "Yeah, well that was the problem, wasn't it? I was paying him and his bloody sister a small fortune to make my foundation's accounts hack-proof, and she was dragging her arse about it, and all he kept saying was 'she'll come around, Ralph, she just takes her time is all.' And then it was 'well she's getting herself together to move here, it will take a little time.' Well it was taking _my_ time, and they both were taking my money. So I got sick of being put off and went round to his flat. I told him it's the bloody computer age, you can get the job done from anywhere, and if he and his mad sister couldn't get it done they could pay me back the money I'd paid up front and piss off, and I'd find someone else who _could_." Baxter laughed and looked from one detective to the other. "I mean you've _met_ her, she's daft! Always talkin' to herself like she's putting everything to a vote or something. Oh, I know she could do the job, but I didn't have a lifetime to wait for it and I told Gil as much. He didn't take it well, and when I said his sister was daft he just came at me. I had to defend myself, didn't I?"

"And so you bashed him with the lamp and left him on the floor to die, and just strolled off, then?" Matt jumped out of his chair and paced back and forth for a bit to bring his temper under control.

Recognizing his cue to play the "good copper", Ronnie told Baxter, "What D.I. Devlin means is, it didn't occur to you to call nine-nine-nine? It being self defense and all, why didn't you just make that call and avoid all this mess? It might have saved Gil Roland's life, after all."

"Well I panicked, who wouldn't? No witnesses, nobody back me up on what happened. I panicked, and got out of there. I knew if I called the police, nobody would believe me. So I legged it back to my flat."

"Not before disconnecting Gil's hard drive to take with you." Matt had sat down again, and leaned back, looking at his partner. "Doesn't sound like panic to me."

"That? I already had it, he'd given it to me a couple of days before so I could see what he'd got done so far. Not bloody much, I can tell you." Baxter's demeanor was very self-assured, and secure in his story. "I'd stuck it on the shelf and forgot to bring it with me when I went to see him."

Ronnie shot a look at Matt before responding. Obviously Baxter didn't know that Gil Roland never let his parallel drive out of his possession, a fact known to Matt, and he most obviously didn't know that Annie Roland had confirmed that even before she identified him as their new client. Whether Gil had mentioned Annie's doubts to Baxter would be key in establishing motive, but there was no way to know.

"Well Mr. Baxter, you didn't appear to be in much of a hurry on that CCTV video. In fact you paused on the steps and checked your inside jacket pocket before continuing on to the sidewalk and on to your car."

The self assurance flickered for half a second. "Well I wasn't thinking straight."

"Well I'll be happy to make things clear for you," Matt offered in a cold voice. "Ralph Baxter I'm arresting you for the murder of Gil Roland." He recited Baxter's rights and had a constable take him to the holding cells.

* * *

><p>"Self defense against what?" Matt raged after the interview. "A superior intellect? I knew Gil for ten years," he told Ronnie and the Guv, "he was a thinker, not a fighter. Blimey, from what he and his parents told me Annie used to beat <em>him<em> up when they were kids!"

Ron tried to calm him down. "Now relax, Matt, nothing about his story adds up. He has no defensive wounds, not so much as a bruise. You know that the self defense excuse is as predictable as sunrise in a case like this. We have his fingerprints on the murder weapon, we found Gil Roland's missing hard drive at Baxter's flat. Not just laying about, hidden away nice and deep in the cupboard. CPS has everything."

"Everything but a clear motive," D.I. Chambers observed. "Do you believe that Roland went off because Baxter insulted his sister?"

"Not a chance," Matt insisted. "And I don't believe Gil just handed over that drive to Baxter. He'd cut off his arm before he'd hand over his tech stuff to anyone, even a client."

Annie entered from the hallway. "Even to me."

"Hello Annie," Ronnie greeted brightly, and looked past her into the hall. "Where's your shadow?"

"I told Allison I'd take the tube today, and I'd call if I needed her. I think it's time I found my own way around. And I have an appointment with a lawyer..." She looked at Matt and corrected herself, "I mean a _solicitor_, to discuss transferring the escrow from the states to here. Gillie and I had a joint account at Barclay's." She paused for a moment and added in a barely audible voice, "It's important to figure out what happens next." Looking again at Ron, Matt, and D.I. Chandler, she informed them, "I got a call at the hotel this morning from your Mr. Steel's office. Alesha Philips said I should come meet with her and Mr. Steel at two p.m. to discuss the case. It's funny to think of myself as the 'victim'..." She said it so matter-of-factly that the others were taken aback.

"Well the job of the Crown Prosecutor is to represent your brother," the D.I. explained, "so that means you as well."

"I know," Annie said. "Allison explained a lot about how this works. Except for the number of different kinds of legal people... briefs, solicitors, barristers, Crown Prosecutors... I don't think I'll ever keep all of it straight... except for that it's not so different than back home." Her voice shifted back to internal mode for a minute. "...the police and the prosecutors follow the same mandate, to defend the victims and put away the bad guys..." Then she came out of it again. "Like that inscription you showed me at the Old Bailey Mattie. 'Defend the children of the poor and punish the wrongdoer'. Not that Gillie and me were the children of the poor exactly, but you're all on the same page with punishing the wrongdoer, right?" She directed this to D.I. Chambers.

"We try our best, Miss Roland. Boys, you've got other cases to look at," she told Ron and Matt. "Why don't you walk Miss Roland to the tube station, D.S. Devlin. Pick us up some coffee on the way back." She smiled and returned to her office.

"Looks like you've earned a dispensation," Ronnie noted. "Make mine white, two sugars." Then to Annie he said, "Good luck at the CPS."

As Annie took the stairs with Matt she told him, "I think I'll like your friend Alesha. She knew Gil too, didn't she?" Past tense was coming more easily, though it didn't feel any more natural.

"Yeah, she met up with us at the White Horse now and then. Gil was always trying to..."

"Pair you off," Annie finished for him. "Just like dad was always trying to pair _us_ off."

Matt shuddered a bit. "Yeah, well at least Gil wasn't suggesting anything... _pervy_."

She actually laughed at that. Matt was about to tell her how good it was to see it, but she interrupted him with another self-directed conversation.

"...feels weird, laughing... it's really time I figure out what comes next..."

"Annie." Matt took her arm and pulled her to a corner of the foyer. "You know and I know, and Gil and everyone else who really knows you, we _all_ know you're just 'having a think' when you talk like that. But right you need to remember that other people don't get it. You need to try to think _inside_ your head for awhile, okay?"

She sighed. It wasn't the first time he'd told her that, and she knew how guilty he felt when he did, like he was no better than the people who wrote her off as crazy. Gil would laugh it off, but Annie knew that Matt worried about the times when people getting the wrong idea could cause problems for her.

"I know, I know. I wish you wouldn't look like that. I _need_ to be reminded, dad was right about that. You and Gillie and mom and dad look at me and see Hamlet, but lots of others see Ophelia. It's not their fault, and it's not yours either."

"I remember when your dad had that little talk with me that first time Gil brought me home on holiday. He didn't want me to think you were daft so he told me when we see people conversing with themselves... 'conversing', that's what he called it... to remember that Ophelia and Hamlet both did that, but only one of them was mad and the other was reasoning."

"'Never assume Ophelia when it may be Hamlet standing before you'," Annie intoned in a serious voice, and then beamed at Matt. "He told me that over and over. In fact that's probably why I kept it up. I kinda like being Hamlet. Ophelia's such a wimp!"

"Just the same..." Matt looked at her earnestly, and leaned closer. "Alesha and James are great, but from now on you're going to be dealing with the kind of people that are going to be thinking Ophelia, not Hamlet. Get it?"

_"Yes,_ Mattie. I'll try really hard to keep have my 'thinks' _inside_ my head. Don't worry so much. Remember, it's a habit..."

"Not a pathology!" they finished in unison, and this time they both laughed, but Matt's smile disappeared abruptly.

"God, Annie, what am I gonna do without him?" he whispered. The tears that had, until now, remained obediently stowed away caught him unawares. "I get by, by not thinking about it, just a case, yeah, but he's there every _minute."_

"I _know_," Annie gasped and hugged tight around his neck. "And I don't know what we're gonna do, but at least we're here, right? Me 'n' you 'n' Bruce, we're all together now." She stepped back and held open her oversized tapestry shoulder bag. The tops of two brown plush ears could be seen poking out.

Suddenly Matt was laughing again, even as he wiped his eyes. "Brilliant," he told her, "just don't let James Steel see that or we'll _never_ convince him you're Hamlet!"

* * *

><p>By the time Matt returned upstairs he'd blown his nose and tidied his eyes so his partner wouldn't feel compelled to ask him any embarrassing questions. Ron was answering the phone as he got to his desk.<p>

"Matt, for you, it's Alesha."

"Hey Lesh, Annie's told us she's going to CPS this afternoon. _What?_" He fell into his chair with a thump. "What does he mean 'it's too thin to prove'? No, I can't reach her, she's misplaced her cellular charger and her phone's been dead since last night. She's on her way to see a solicitor about bank accounts, and then she's going straight to your office. Right. Well tell George Castle that D.S. Devlin says he can get stuffed." He slammed the phone down.

"Well?"Ronnie asked. "What was that about?"

Matt dropped his head in his hands for a second, then looked at Ron in angry disbelief. "Alesha says that George Castle told her and James that there's not a solid enough case to go forward. No witnesses, no proof that it _wasn't_ self defense, 'too hard' to prove that it didn't happen exactly as Baxter said it did."

"For God's sake..." Ron grumbled. "Covering his arse again with the Home Secretary."

"Right, Alesha said James disagreed but this time he doesn't have enough ammunition to go up against George. Even with what Annie told us about Baxter's job seeming shady, you know how Castle is always afraid of boring the jury into 'not guilty' and wasting the Crown's 'time and resources'. Annie's going there thinking they're going to discuss the case, when she's going to find out there's no case at all."

"I'm sorry, son. You can try to call CPS after we see Teddy about the forensics from the Randolph assault. You think she'll be okay?"

"Of course she'll be 'okay' Ron, she's not a mental case!" Matt snapped as they headed out and apologized seconds later. "I'm sorry, mate. Yeah, she'll be okay. She's pretty good at recognizing what the stupid reasons are when things don't go the right way. But when she thinks her logic's being ignored, that's when she'll surprise you. She can lay you out good as dead and never raise her voice."

Ron laughed grimly in spite of the disappointing turn of events. "I guess James Steel is in for a time of it, then."


End file.
